Ballot Counting Is Delayed In These Six States With Legal Battles On The Horizon

I’m neither a pollster nor political reporter — but here’s why there are delays in the six states yet to be officially called (plus Arizona, which only Fox News and the Associated Press have called, for Biden) and, building on my earlier primer, legal issues that may arise:

Georgia
Trump maintains a consistent but not insurmountable lead as some mailed‐​in ballots, less than 10 percent of the total, remain to be counted, particularly in metro Atlanta’s DeKalb County and Savannah’s Chatham County. Ballots arriving after Election Day don’t count, so I imagine the state will be called today. Several counties in the Atlanta area ran into technical difficulties, but it’s unclear whether this will generate lawsuits or other problem beyond a delay in the count.

Michigan
Michigan is exceedingly close, with a slight Trump lead, though late‐​arriving ballots don’t count here either, so it’s just a matter of getting the million or so outstanding mailed‐​in ballots counted. Election officials had previously said that full unofficial results could take until the end of the week, but the secretary of state said last night that she expected to have “a very clear picture, if not a final picture” of the results by tonight.